Closure latch



Nov. 8, 1932. N. A. MEARS- CLOSURE LATCH Filed April 17. 1930 APatented Nov. 8, 1932` UNITED STATES PATENT ol-r-lhlcE- NORTON A. MEARS, F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO CHICAGO FOMING & KANU- I'ACTURING CO., OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A OORPOBATION 0F ILLINOIS CLOSUBE LATCH Application led April 17,

The invention relates to latches of the type employed in securing the movable cover of an automobile hood in closed position and has especial reference to that type of latch swhich is enclosed within the hood with an plpeiating handle projecting exteriorly of the A general object of my invention is to provide a latch of novel and advantageous construction which consumes a small amount of space inside the hood cover, is capable of convenient operation and may be manufactured economically.

In carrying out my invention I employ a 16 latch construction including a resilient lever fulcrumed on one of the two sections to be secured together, and providing a latch arm adapted for swinging movement into and out of engagement with an abutment or keeper on the other one of the two sections. With this in view, a further object of my invention is to provide a novel and effective means for operating the lever and for releasably holding the same in either latching or un- .25 latching position.

Another object is to provide an operating 4means for the. lever having a portion pro- 'ecting to the exterior of the hood and operal ble by a substantially vertical sliding motion'.

The objects of the invention thus set forth, together with other and ancillary advantages are attained in the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawing and hereinafter more particularly described, it being understood \.that various changes in the construction herein employed may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

Figure 1 of the drawing is a side elevational view of my improved latch as applied vto the inside of an automobile hood.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken approximately in the plane of line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken agproximately in the plane of line 3-3 of ig. 1.

While the invention is not limited to use 5 in connection with automobile hoods, it is Abase plate 10 and an overlyin 4end portion of this lever constitutes a latch 1980. serial in. 444,887.

particularly applicable to such a use and it will therefore be described in that environment.

The latch as shown is applied to the inside of a hood of which 7 designates a portion of 65 the movable hood cover one edge of which is arranged to overlap slightly a fixed member of the automobile 8. Mounted on the inside Nof the cover section is a latch supporting structure -generally designated 9 comprisin a plate 11. e plate 11 has a bracket arm 12 ormed integral therewith, with the major portion thereof spaced a short distance from the base plate 10 and overlyirg a pedestal 12 upstanding therefrom. pin 13 supported at its opposite ends in the bracket 12 and the pedestal .12const1tutes a fulcrum for a lever 14 which 1s Journaled between its ends on the pin. One

arm 15 of a length such as to be swin able across the joint formed between the hoo section and the fixed member of the automobile intoengagement with an abutment 16 constltuting a keeper projecting from the fixed member of the automobile.

The lever14 is preferably formed from a heavy gage wire or rod of suitable resilient material which is bent to form in addition to the latch arm 15 an operating arm 17. The arm 17 has a portion 18 which extends substantially parallel to the latch arm 15 and forms therewith a loop the bight of which provides a bearing for the pin 13. A cupped washer 19 engaging the rounded end of the 85 bent lever retains it against sliding movement relative to the pin 13. i

The free end of the operating arm 17 is disposed substantially opposite the latch arm 15, and at this end the armv 17 has a portion 20 bent reversely from the portion '18 and having its free end bent to form an eye 21.

The means for actuating the lever through the medium of the operating arm 20 comprises an angular handle bar 22 having an inner upright stem 22* pivoted at its lower end in the eye 21 of the operating arm 17, and a shank 22" extending outwardly from the upper end of the stem through thehood cover. 10

The outer-end of said shank is bent to form a suitable handle 23.

To permit the passage of the handle shank 22b through the cover, the latter is provided with anv elongated upright slot and the base plate 9has a registering.slot cut.there1n. Thus a g11ideWay-24(Fig. 2) -fis formed. for the handle shank. A guide for the stem 22" is formed by a raised channel-shaped member 25Vwhich may be formed vintegrallvvith lthe una, 11. f i i The guideway 24 is of a length suchthat 1n the movement ofthe handle bar 22 from one extreme end of the guidewayto the other the latch arm 15 is swung about its fulcr'um 18 from an active position in engagement with the-keeper l16 to. a.; retracted position spaced a substantial distance inwardly from the free edge of the cover... Inits. lowermost position the handle shank22b is adapted to enterA allateral notch26 (Eig. 1) at the lower end of the guideway 24: andopening thereinto so .fasto form' in effect a bayonet slot. The notch 26 is formedin the cover section 7 and in the baseplate`9.` n The arrangement is such that the latch arm 15 is adapted to engage with the keeper abutment 16 just in advance of the movement of the handle bar downwardly far enough for the shank to .enter the notch 26. Consequently as the handle shank is moved into the notch, the lever,.havingits latch arm 15 engaging the abutment, is placed under tension.

Means is provided for yieldably holding the handle bar 22 in the upper end of the guideway 24. This means comprises in the present instance a coiled contractile spring 27 having one end connected to the lower trunnioned end of the stem 22 and its other end anchored to the base plate 10 in a position such as to draw the handle bar upwardly. Thus the latch arm 15 is held retracted from the keeper 16, with the handle 23 in position b for convenient use as a means for lifting the hood cover. In this connection it will be observed that the upper end ofthe guideway is engaged by the handle shank 22b just before the stem 22L of the handle moves into dead center relation to the operating arm 20, so that a downward force applied to the handle is effective to swing the lever into engagement with the keeper.

In order that the latch may be eiective to restrain the hood cover against outward movement in a direction perpendicular t'o the fixed member of the automobile, the lower surface of the keeper abutment 16 is inclined upwardly and inwardly as indicated in Fig. 2 to form a cam surface 28. Since the latch arm 15 is held under tension when engaging with this cam surface 28, the hood cover is drawn and held firmly in closed position. The keeper abutment 16 may be constructed economically from sheet met-al. Thus it may comprise a base plate 29 having integral with opposite side ed es thereof arms 30 which f' n arm from active to inactive position and vice versa, and which is furthermore operative td hold the-latch arm vin either extreme position,

' serving when'='the arm -is'in latching position to hold the two sections of the hood or other structure iirmly together under tension. I claim as my invention:

1. A latch for a closure member, comprising in-combination, an abutment projecting from means deining the opening closed by the closure member, a lever fulcrumed on the movable closure member for rotation in a .plane parallel to the member,fand a handle bar j ournaled at one end in said lever to rotate the same and guided at the other end in said movablemember for substantiallyY vertical reciprocatory motion.

2. A latclrfor a closure member, comprisi ing, in combination, an abutment projecting from means defining the opening closed by the closure member, a lever fulcrumed on the movable closure member for rotation in a plane parallel to the member, and a handle ar having one end journaled in said lever, said closure having an upright guide adapted to receive the other end of the handle bar, said bar being operable to rotate said lever into or out of engagement with said abutment upon vertical motion of the bar in said guide.

3. In an automobile hood latch, the combination, comprising, an abutment projecting from a fixed member of the automobile, a lever :tulcrumed on the hood cover for rota-- tion in a plane parallel to the cover, a handle ar having one end journaled in said lever and the other end guided for substantially vertical movement, said bar being adapted to rotate said lever into or out of engagement with said abutment, and a sprin operable to hold said lever in retracted posltion.

4. An automobile hood latch comprising, an abutment projecting from a fixed member of the automobile, a resilient member fulcrumed on the hood cover for rotation in a plane parallel to the hood and into engagement with said abutment, a bar journaled at one end in said lever, means for guiding the other end of the bar for substantially vertical movement, and a spring tending to hold said bar at the upper limit of its movement short of a dead center relation to said lever.

5. An automobile hood latch comprising, in combination, an abutment projecting from a fixed member of the automobile, a resilient lever fulcrumed on the hood cover for rotation in a plane parallel to the cover, means providing on the hood cover a substantially vertical slot with a horizontal enlargement at its lower end .forming a bayonet lock, and a bar guided at one end for movement in said slot and journaled at the other end in said lever to rotate the same into engagement with said abutment, said bayonet lock being positioned to require flexing of the lever due to engagement with said abutment before said bar may bereceived in the lock.

6. A latch comprising, in combination with two parts to be connected in overlapping relation, an abutment on one of said parts, a resilient lever` fulcrumed on the other part Jfor rotation in a plane parallel therewith and providing a latch arm adapted for swinging movement across the overlapping joint between the parts into and out of engagement with said abutment, and a handle bar pivotally connected to said lever, the part on which the lever is mounted having an elongated guide in the plane thereof and said handle bar having a portion operable in said guide and extending t0 the side of the part opposite the side on which the lever is mounted.

7. A latch for an automobile hood cover and the like comprising, in combination, a resilient slightly flexible lever fulcrumed between its ends on the cover and having a latch arm at one end, a handle at the other end of said lever, a keeper stationarily mounted at one side of the cover, said lever being swingable substantially in the plane of said cover so as to move said arm into and out of engagement with said keeper, and means engaged by said handle in the latched position of the arm positioned to require distortion of said lever.

8. A latch for an automobile hood cover and the like comprising, in combination, a resilient lever fulcrumed between its ends on said cover and having a latch arm at one end and a handle at the other end, a keeper stationarily mounted at one side of the cover, said lever being swingable substantially in the plane of said cover soas to move said arm into and out of engagement with said1 keeper, and means Jfor releasably holding the lever under tension in either its operative or its inoperative relation to said keeper.

9. A latch for securing the parts of an automobile hood in closed position com rising, in combination, an abutment on a xed part of the automobile, a lever fulcrumed on the hood to be swung into engagement with said abutment, and an operator guided for rectilinear movement in the part of the hood supporting said lever to swing it into engagement with said abutment, said lever being yieldable to permit movement of said operator into latched position after engagement of the lever with the abutment.

10. A latch for securing the parts of an automobile hood in closed position com rislng, in combination, an abutment on a gxed part of the automobile, a lever fulcrumed on the hood having an arm for engaging said 4abutment.

In testimony whereof, 'I have hereunto aixed my signature.

NORTON A. MEARS. 

